"Hello Hazel, we're so pleased you've arrived safely, it's been a while but you're finally back" says a red headed plump lady in a friendly tone. I take a good look at number on the side of her neck, it reads 0174. Before I can reply she offers me her hand and gently guides me out of the shuttle and onto the fresh green ground. I look around me and see hundreds of people all with unique numbers on the side of their necks. The people range from many ages but none of them look any older than 60. The lady walks me through the crowd and many people greet me and say that it's lovely to see me again. I can't remember who these people are, never mind how they all know me!
The lady continues to walk me down the street, the queue of people is never ending. "So, what's your name?" I ask. "Oh, we don't have names here. You're the only human who has a name, we all go by the codes on our necks. Y'see, I'm number 174" the lady replies. We walk for another 15 minutes in silence until we reach a tall, modern looking, white, tiled building. "Hazel, was it not clear that your mother was to come too?" the lady asks with a concerned look on her face. "Well...umm, she couldn't make it" I reply, while trying to suss out how she knew my mother. A part of me wants to trust these people, but I know I shouldn't let them know too much about my mothers death, they could use it against me. The lady shows me the entrance to the building and leaves.
I'm now in a room with just an elevator in. I press the button for the elevator to come down as I wait. This town is very peaceful, there's not a car or animal insight! The elevator arrives and I cautiously step inside. The building is very tall so I can imagine there would be a lot of choices of buttons to press. Funnily enough, there's only one button. The silver button has a star on. I press it and the elevator accelerates rapidly up towards the sky. It gradually slows down and the doors open. I step into a hallway. The echo of my footsteps alert a man who is standing at the end of the hallway. "Ahh, I've been waiting for this moment for a long time Hazel. Now I know you might not know who I am, but for now you can call me Leo. Pleasure to meet you". I look at his neck before shaking his outstretched hand. His neck says 0130, guess that's where he got Leo from. I pick up the courage to ask the tall, tanned man a question. "Leo, what am I doing here?" I stutter."Well, darlin. It's not exactly a short story to tell. But I will tell you since you're so eager to hear". "Please, come inside my office", Leo says as he opens a door leading off of the hallway. I walk into the large, artwork covered office and plonk myself down onto a red leather sofa and wait for the man to start talking. "Hazel, this planet was your mothers experiment. She ruled the planet and put me as her second. You were born here..."
YOU ARE READING
Escaping space
Science FictionHazel Ackers ends up stranded in space and isn't sure how to get back to earth. She's in fact terrified to go back to earth, but that could be her only safe place... Find out what happens to her while she takes part in a strange mission which she is...
